Bye-Bye Roy the Animal Guy!

Well, that little partnership is kaput!
Thursday afternoon, Roy the Animal Guy brought over some more chickens and decided to build a pen *just* for HIS animals, as in his lambs, his goats. Okay, no problem with that.
BUT during a discussion before he built his pen, he told me he had sold Desi, (I originally named her Jeannie), a small female goat I had bottle fed and raised.
Initially, when Roy had brought 4 baby goats over here, 2 of which needed to be bottle fed, his story was:

His dad had traveled over to New Mexico and bought all four of the goats. Three of the goats...male...were Roy's goats. The little female goat was his dad's, as his dad had paid for it, along with driving over to pick up the goats, paying for the gas, etc.
I told Roy at that time that we had a deal with him not his dad and his father would have to pay us for the care and feeding of the little female goat. Roy said he would pass that along to his father.
We discussed this several times over the almost three months I cared for and fed Desi.
Thursday, Roy sat on our back patio and told me that the little female goat was now HIS as his dad owed him money and he had arranged to sell Desi. I told him "No, Desi is MINE until you pay for her care and feeding. She stays HERE."
Roy insisted that HE owed NOTHING for the milk and then the hay and feed we had provided for Desi. He said his dad owed that. I called Bullshit and said Roy now owed the debt.
Then Roy committed the cardinal sin.
He told me HE picked up the goats in New Mexico and Desi had been his goat from the start.
I told him that was NOT what he told me initially. He told me "Oh yes, I told you from the start she was my goat."
I called the Darlin' Man and the Girl outside, told Roy to shut up and asked them each if they remembered what Roy had told us about the goats ownership.
They both remembered what Roy had initially said about the goat being his dad's.
I then asked Roy again...who bought the goat originally and whose goat it was.
He repeated that HE bought her and she was HIS goat and he owed NOTHING for her care and feeding.
I looked at him, told him that Desi was staying precisely where she was and that I did NOT appreciate being lied to.
I came back in the house.
Ten minutes later, I heard Desi screaming bloody murder and went out and saw Roy putting her in his newly constructed pen.
"Is that Desi?" I yelled out.
"Yes", replied Roy, "She's MY goat!"
I then yelled over to him; "Okay, then take Desi and take ALL your animals and get them off this property RIGHT DAMN NOW!"
So, Roy spent the next few hours getting all his animals off the property, and, from what I understand, temporarily housing them in his one bedroom apartment until he finds someone else who will let him use their land.
2 adult goats, 3 four month old goats, 4 peafowl, 2 guineas, 4 ducks, 100 chickens & roosters, 50 pigeons, 50 doves and 2 ram lambs.
Good luck with that, Roy.

Today the Darlin' Man and The Girl deconstructed all of Roys pens (which looked horrible, anyway) and stacked all the building supplies from the takedown so Roy can easily pick all of his stuff.

It wasn't that Roy refused to pay for the goats care and feeding. It was that Roy straight-up lied to avoid having to take responsibility. That is the main reason I kicked him off the property.
Lying to me like that was the final straw. It made me realize that if he would lie about that, he would lie about everything else in our little business partnership and had probably lied to us before.
I could not tolerate that.

So, it was a lot quieter this morning when I went out to feed. Very peaceful.

Puppies and Bunnies and a Chicken, Oh My!

Here's some pictures!

Baby bunnies...still more or less hairless!

Wriggly little critters!

The biggest of the litter. We call him "Colossus"

"Bear-Bear", little black male

"Lady", wee female black pup

"Runt", yes, this little girl was the runt of the litter!

"Nugget" our front porch pet chicken!

Bad Morning...

I woke up this morning to find Bruno, the buck goat Roy bought, was dead.
Apparently Bruno got in a head-butting contest with the little dwarf-mini buck our neighbor has. They head-butted through the fence. The neighbors wee buck has a busted scalp and was bleeding, but Bruno got a horn hooked into the fence and, we guess, tried so violently to free himself that he snapped his own neck.
So, I called Roy and when he got here, the Darlin; Man borrowed the neighbors pick up and together they took Bruno way out into the desert. Bruno was left for the coyotes.
So...we are searching for a new breeding buck.

The wee peachick from the cracked egg died. I am not checking anymore of the eggs Ugly Betting is setting.

Good news today is that Skillet the rabbit is taking very good care of her babies. One is solid black, one is solid white and the other three are black and white spotted.
I will be taking pictures later today to post.

Farmstead Happenings

Well, I posted all the comments I received on my last post, and , sure enough, a couple were political in nature.
Here is what I basically believe:
It's rigged.
The "powers that be" will make sure that whatever puppet they deign appropriate for their purpose will sit in the Oval Office.
No use arguing about it, no use getting upset about it.
Just hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
That's about all any of us can do.
And that's the end of political discussion from me.

In other news here...
One of the pups opened her eyes today. She did this while being held by The Girl. The pup, startled by the light (or perhaps her first sight of a human), started screaming her wee head off! Of course, Baby (mama dog) got very concerned and The Girl returned the pup to her care for comfort and consoling.
All the pups are fat and wriggly now.

Ugly Betty is still setting the peafowl eggs. Yesterday she kicked one out of her nest and I found it had gone bad. Really, really bad. So, I figured this little experiment was a bust.
Today, I pulled one of the eggs still remaining from under Betty and cracked it open.
OOPS!
There was a chick inside.
Fortunately, the chick seemed about to hatch anyway and was chirping and kicking. So, I have put it in a box lined with hay and a soft cloth, sitting on top of the heating pad. All that on the kitchen table. I checked a few minutes ago and the wee chick is still alive and chirping and kicking.
I am not going to disturb it anymore....just let it fight it's way out of the shell and hope it survives the night.

Yesterday evening, Skillet, our female bunny gave birth to 5 baby bunnies! We were a bit surprised, as she had not been evidencing any nesting type behavior and hadn't changed in size in any noticable manner.
We rapidly moved T-Bone, the male, into a separate cage. Today I saw that Skillet had finally made a little nest for the babies. I haven't seen her nursing them or snuggling with them, so I don't know how well this is going to work out. Tonight, all five baby bunnies are still alive and squirming.
I know VERY little about the care and feeding of a nursing mama bunny. So, I am doing a lot of reading today and tonight. Any suggestions and/or tips on the bunnies will be GREATLY appreciated!

Just a Bit of Everything!

The puppies continue to grow...and squeal...and whine....and, well, you get the idea. Moved them out of our closet into the living room. Baby (mama dog) is okay with that. She can now escape the whining pups by jumping up on the couch and letting them whine themselves to sleep on occasion. Yesterday she fed them, bathed them and snuggled them...but still they whined. I came into the living room to find her standing over them in their *puppy box* looking a bit perturbed. She looked at me and her expression was the classic "What do I do? What do I do!? Make it stop, make it stop!"
Welcome to motherhood, poor thing.

The political season is going full force. I didn't watch the conventions and I stopped watching the news on t.v. a couple of years ago. I TRY to avoid political commercials, but the sneaky buggers seem to buy time on all the channels....sigh.
Will I vote?
Well, my candidate is not even on the ballot here in Texas. I could go and vote for the Libertarian candidate, in fact, if I go to vote, that is probably what I will do.
Other than that, my main focus is reading news that matters, not the fluff pieces promoted by the main stream media.

The USAs credit rating was dropped lower again and now China is starting to insist on paying for oil/selling oil for yuan instead of dollars. A Very Bad Sign. The price of oil has been stabilized for decades by linking it with the American dollar, as the dollar has historically been the most stable monetary instrument.
Now...not so much.
The drought in the midwest (aka, America's breadbasket) has slowed a bit due to the remnants of a hurricane or two. But...too little, too late. Hay and corn prices had ranchers dumping their cattle at feedlots for slaughter. Small farmers, too, found themselves having to slaughter their small herds to save on feed costs.
The price of beef, and pork will dip a little, temporarily, but meat can only be frozen so long or held so long in grocery stores. When the cheap *dumped* livestock runs out, prices will go up as those farmers that were able to hold on to the core of their herds try to build back up and don't sell.
We had rain here in the desert...too much rain!...and the price of hay went down. Still, corn prices went up and so did feed prices. A lot of folks here have been getting rid of their chickens and other barnyard fowl and small livestock, such as goats and sheep. Roy, the animal guy, currently has 4 ducks rooming with our geese and brought in a couple of new lambs, too. He buys them cheap and then finds buyers that will buy them for a little more. He is doing okay so far.

We have learned that the Darlin' Man has some medical issues that, while serious, can be dealt with. He may be able to retire a little earlier than we thought. While he is slogging through the paperwork for that, we are still looking at properties in Vermont. A couple stand out, but we can't make any decision....yet. I won't be able to make a visit up there this month...or next month. Just too much going on here. Maybe in January or February. We'll see.

The past week, I gained a couple of followers and lost a couple. I admit to not knowing who I gained and who I lost as I still haven't figured out how to navigate the new blogger interface stuff. It confuses me...which isn't too hard as I am a bit of a computer illiterate, lol!
To those I gained...Hi there!
To those I lost...Bye!

Picture Day!!!

Hoping all these post okay!

The biggest of the litter.

All four...sorry it's dark!

The biggest next to his siblings

Meet Bruno!

Gabby seems to like him!

The white pea hens next to our regular one.

White pea hen with our goats and Bruno in the background

The Girl holding one of the "bottle lambs"

:Big Daddy", the Rock Island rooster

"Geronimo", the Rhode Island Red rooster

Puppies Are Here!

Baby had her pups Friday Night/Saturday morning. Two boys, two girls. Can't quite tell who the papa is...maybe when they get a bit bigger.
Mama and babies doing fine.
Will take pictures and post them tomorrow.

Also...new buck goat! Named Bruno. He looks like a Bruno, too! Will also be posting pics of him as well.

Just an Update

Right now, as the political season goes into high gear, I am so discouraged.
No real new ideas or messages from those running for office...on either side.
Whoever wins, it will be the same.
"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
I'm not going to tell you who to vote for or even TO vote.
Just....follow the money.
See who is donating the most to candidates and discover their motives and agendas.
Because no matter what political parties say, people and organizations that give money to candidates always, but ALWAYS expect something in return.
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I am feeling somewhat overwhelmed at the moment.
I feel like I have so much to do, but never enough time to get it all accomplished.
Food storage, sewing, the livestock....ARRGGGHHH!
It just seems to pile up and before you know it, there's a mountain of stuff to get done!
Some days I just want to hide somewhere until it goes away....but the problem is, it never goes away!
We need Prepper Fairies!
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I am still incubating the peafowl eggs. My secret to incubating them this time?
I am using Ugly Betty!
She had gone broody on an egg she laid the day Pender died. I am hoping her egg is a rooster egg, I would LOVE to have a Pender, Jr.!
Anyway, I tucked the peafowl eggs under her and she is determined to hatch them all, bless her. I set her up a nesting box on the front porch and she seems quite content there.
Nugget, one of our orphan chicks, lives on the front porch, but she and Betty basically ignore each other.
Nugget likes to come inside and visit on occasion, which amuses me but annoys the dogs,lol!
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OH! On to Baby, our preggo pup.
She is miserable. It has been pretty hot the past week and Baby spends as much time as possible indoors, especially on my bed with the fan blowing directly on her.
Poor little thing! She has a hard time jumping on the bed now, so I have to pick her up and put her on the bed. Once there, she rearranges the pillows and comforter so she can comfortably lie on her back.
I am hoping she will make it through her pregnancy and whelping safely. Once she delivers, we will have her spayed as soon as possible!
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That's all from here right now. I have some worries and stress pressing down on me, but I'll keep that to myself for now.
I hope everyone out there is still prepping away...I don't anticipate things getting better with the election coming up....probably worse...possibly much worse.